Work Blocks – How To Organise Your Working Day

How do you organise your working day? For a lot of smart, creative people, organising their working day can be a struggle. Musicians, designers, entrepreneurs, writers, stay at home moms running small businesses, work from home “telecommuters,” photographers and so on all face challenges to organise their working days in a productive way. I know for myself, I’ve tried many approaches and most haven’t been successful.

It’s tempting just to mimic the 9-5 ideal, to block out whole days (or nights) in big chunks. But, 9-5, Monday to Friday emerged as a way to (fairly) organise workers in large organisations in the industrial age. And, while it’s tempting to pick a number of working hours out of the air, 40, 50, 60 or whatever, the reasons why these numbers work and what the week they represent means might not apply to those someone who works alone, from home, running a creative business.

If you work alone, then your day is unlikely to have as many meetings, or moments around the “water cooler,” as a typical office worker might experience. And, while working from home saves you time on commuting, you will face the challenge of having your work literally on you doorstep, 24/7. The lack of stimulus from others and potential burnout from never being able to walk away from the work are a real challenge for many of us.

“The coolest take away from the article concerns what I now call “work blocks.” In short, after that 90 minutes of work, our bodies and minds need a break. But our 9-5 (or 7-7) work culture demands focus for much, much longer blocks of time, so many of us fight that urge to break by filling up the mug with more coffee, rubbing our eyes and refocusing on the screen.

No more.

Inspired by Schwarz and the studies he cited, I created a Daily Schedule that broke up my day into 90-minute Work Blocks, separated by 30 minute Breaks and, in the middle of my day, a 2-hour lunch. I know some of you just spit your coffee out. But you read that right. I take a 2 hour lunch to get a long run or workout in, eat and read from a book or write a few lines in my journal.

During the 30 minute breaks I read, clean, walk to the post office and complete those little, once distracting tasks that now actually kill two birds with one stone. Sometimes, if I didn’t get enough sleep the night before, I’ll even knock off for a cat nap.”

I read the article a few times, made some notes, talked it through with a few friends and put it into practice myself. After some tweaking, I came up with a plan that suited my work, personal and family commitments, with the same principles of four work blocks a day, two hours for lunch and half hour breaks all in place. It worked for me and looks like this,

Being Realistic

The younger version of me used to find working crazy long hours and late into the night kind of attractive. It spoke to some misplaced bohemian ideal of what it meant to be an “artist.” But, it’s not sustainable. Partly because, if you have family and relationship commitments, you need to carve out time to be there for other people. But also, you won’t always have the energy to put in those long hours and if you are not careful, after a while you’ll only work when you feel “inspired.”

The work block approach is realistic and sustainable and I think that’s why it’s worked for me. If my day gets interrupted I can manage my time in a clear way. Say a block working on photos becomes a wresting match with a printer. Rather than feeling I’ve lost my day I can contain the damage to my schedule and just pick up at the next work block.

Or, if I need to dedicate an afternoon to helping my kid with their homework, I can reschedule that work block to later in the evening or on the weekend, and know I’m committing to just a focussed 1.5 hours of work in my off time, rather than committing to open ended amounts of work at night or on the weekend.

Two Hours For Lunch – Really?

One thing I refuse to be apologetic about in this programme is the two hour lunch break. I know it probably sounds like a total indulgence. But, this has given me a routine where I can regularly exercise or do Pilates two to three times a week. And, exercising in the day gives me a huge mental and creative boost – it makes me more productive.

The long lunch break gives me time to shop to for fresh food, which means I eat healthier and gives me time once a week, to lunch in a new and different part of Tokyo, helping me feel more connected to my new home town.

Also, depending on my schedule, two hours is enough to watch a (shorter) film, visit a gallery or do a big chunk of reading – all of which fuel my creative engine and help me feel less confined while working from home.

And, the planned half hour breaks in the day, which for me happen at 8am, 10am, 3.30pm and 5.30pm not only give me a nice buffer between each block (and family time), they allow me to catch up with email and social media, check my calendar, change guitar strings, buy bread and milk, tidy up, sharpen pencils, have coffee and get ready for the next task without eating into my actual working time.

How Much Is Enough

Four work blocks of one and a half hours yields thirty hours a week. Is that enough? Well, remember this is really focussed work; distraction free work. And, for me, having the defined blocks of time gives my work a sense of urgency and focus.

Being able to get through the tasks you need to complete in a sustainable and healthy way is what matters, not the hours you spend doing them.

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4 Comments

It’s an interesting approach, and one that seems to have developed more naturally for me over the last few years. Sometimes with the kind of work I do this isn’t practical, and it may be necessary to simply get my head down & run until the task is finished, snatching a quick lunch on the way. However there have been occasions when I’ve had major jobs that have stretched WAY outside the working day, and using a modified version of this has allowed me to work effectively 24 hours while still being effective at the end.

A rule I learned as a teenager working in a production lab was that you always made sure you got your breaks: as well as relieving tedium, it allows one to bring the concentration required to perform a dull but demanding task well.

Toni – thanks. I certainly wasn’t trying to say “lead with your marketing plan.” My point is more if it feels like the right thing to do – do it. If not, or you are unsure, don’t fleece, examine yourself more deeply & keep working.

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I craft music, photos and words in my Tokyo and Adelaide studios. I was born in Chile, have travelled through 43 countries and over the last 15 years lived in Sydney, London, Delhi, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo. This site and my book, No Missing Tools, to help people like you be more creative and solve the world’s most frustrating question, “What do you do?”